Decorative ornamental article of foamed plastic and a hanger therefor



J. R. NESBIT DECORATIVE ORNAMENTAL ARTICLE OF FOAMED PLASTIC AND A HANGER THEREFOR Filed Sept. 26, 1969 INVEN TOR R. NE 3 8/ T States Patent ice 3,533,890 DECORATIVE ORNAMENTAL ARTICLE OF FOAMED PLASTIC AND A HANGER THEREFOR James R. Nesbit, 1310 Scott Ave., Winnetka, Ill. 60093- Continuation-in-part of abandoned application Ser. No.

670,736, Sept. 26, 1967, which is a continuation-inpart of abandoned application Ser. No. 460,939, June 3, 1965. This application Sept. 26, 1969, Ser. No. 861,420

Int. Cl. A47g 33/10 U.S. Cl. 16116 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hanger for an article such as a Christmas tree ornament or the like, which has a body formed of expanded foam plastic, which hanger is characterized by a spearlike stem having an eye or hook at one end for engaging a Christmas tree branch or other support, and a pointed enlargement on the other end for penetrating the body of expanded foam plastic, the latter having the ability to close around the hanger stem when it is forced into the body and the pointed enlargement havinga shoulder facing in the direction of the eye or hook against which the material will lodge as it closes about the stem so as to afford substantial resistance to withdrawal of the stem from the ornament body. The hanger stem may have a shoulder formed by an enlargement at the base of the eye or hook which limits the penetration of the hanger stem into the ornament body.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 670,736, filed Sept. 26, 1967, now abandoned which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 460,939, filed June 3, 1965, now abandoned.

This invention relates to devices for connecting two articles or for suspending an article from a support and is particularly concerned with improvements in a means for suspending or hanging articles, such as ornaments, from Christmas trees or other supporting structures.

Decorative articles which are suitable for use as Christmas treet ornaments or the like have been developed which comprise a core of lightweight, unbreakable construction covered with a highly decorative material such as strand windings of satin or similar material. The core material employed has been most often an expanded,

' foamed plastic formed into a solidified multicellular mass,

such as, for example, expanded polystyrene or expanded polyethylene. Also, ornaments have been developed which employ this type material without an outer covering of any kind. While such materials have proven satifactory for the production of Christmas tree decorations in the form of spheres or other shapes, the hangers heretofore provided for suspending such ornaments from Christmas trees or other supports have not been entirely satisfactory. Most ornament hangers which have been employed for conventional hollow ball ornaments of glass or similar rigid materials are formed of Wire which Will cut through the plastic material. Other hangers, such as the fabric covered wire commonly used with the plastic ornaments generally require a prebored or preformed hole in the ornament and friction resulting from jamming the hanger in the hole or in the core material is relied upon to maintain the connection between the ornament and the hanger.

These hangers frequently pull out of the onrament and 3,533,890 Patented Oct. 13, 1970 expanded cellular plastic or other material of a similar nature.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a means for hanging or suspending an article, such as a Christmas tree ornament, which is formed from a solid mass of expanded cellular plastic, or similar material, wherein the suspending means is constructed so that no preformed or prebored hole is required for its application and when attached to the same, it will permit considerable movement without resulting in permanent separation.

Another object of the invention is to provide for use with a decorative article, such as a Christmas tree ornament which is formed with a body of expanded, cellular foam plastics, a suspending hanger which comprises a stem portion with an eye or hook formation at one end for engaging a support and an enlargement at the other end so that the stem may be forced into the body of the ornament and the enlargement Will prevent accidental separation of the ornament from the hanger.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hanger of relatively rigid material having a stem with an end enlargement which is especially adapted for use with a Christmas tree ornament, the ornament being formed so as to provide, at least on a surface portion thereof Where the hanger is to be attached, a layer of material which will yield to permit penetration by the enlargement on the end portion of the hanger and thereafter close about the stern of the hanger so as to offer substantial resistance to withdrawal of the enlargement and separation of the hanger from the ornament.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hanger for a Christmas tree ornament, or similar article, wherein the article is formed with a body of expanded cellular foam plastic and the hanger is formed of a relatively rigid material so as to provide a thin, elongate stem with an eye or hook at one end for engaging a support and with the other end pointed and provided with an enlargement which includes a shoulder facing in the direction of the eye or hook so that when the stem is forced into the body of the plastic article, the material in the latter will close in over the shoulder at the end of the stem and prevent accidental separation of the hanger from the body of the article.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hanger for a Christmas tree ornament or the like which is characterized by a body of expanded cellular foam plastic, the hanger being fabricated of a relatively rigid plastic material with an eye or hook at one end and a pointed enlargement at the other end of a stem forming portion which is adapted for penetrating the foam plastic body, the enlargement providing a shoulder facing in the direction of the eye or hook which anchors the hanger in the material of the body when the latter closes about the stem and which is spaced from an oppositely facing shoulder provided by a disc-like enlarged portion at the base of the eye or hook, the function of which is to limit the penetration of the stem into the body by abutting against the outside surface of the ornament and to stabilize the connection between the hanger and the ornament.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the article and the hanger therefor which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation with portions broken away of a spherical ornament for a Christmas tree or the like with a hanger therefor which incorporates the principal features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the ornament of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the hanger element to an enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view showing a portion of the ornament with the hanger element partially inserted in the body of the ornament;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the hanger element employed with an ornament having a preformed hole into which the hanger is inserted;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing the hanger element employed with a hollow ornament having a wrapped strand cover;

FIG. 6a is an elevational view of a hanger element having a hook formation for engaging a support;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of the hanger element; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view, similar to FIG. 5, showing the hanger of FIG. 7 inserted in the body of the ornament.

The ornament it which is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, is in the form of a sphere having a body portion or core 11 of expanded cellular foam plastic and a decorative covering 12 of a strand material which may be satin or the like wound thereon so as to cover the core 11. The core 11 may be molded, or cut from a previously molded, plastic material which is derived by expanding a foamed plastic, such as polystyrene or polyethylene and solidifying the same into a multicellular mass having a very low density. This type core material is firm and hard to the touch but easily penetrated by a knife or similar tool or instrument, while at the same time it has a sufiicient degree of elasticity to cause the material to close about and frictionally grip a penetrating object. The material is somewhat rubber-like and exhibits physical properties similar to cellular latex. While an ornament core made from this material is firm and self-sustaining and offers considerable resistance to crushing, it is easily penetrated by a pointed rod such as a hanger stem or the like, which has substantially greater hardness and when so penetrated, the material has sufiicient elasticity to close about the rod or stem and frictionally engage the same with the result that a substantial effort is required to eifect withdrawal of the rod or stem.

The ornament is adapted to be suspended from a Christmas tree or other support by a specially designed connector or hanger member 15 which is formed of a material having substantially greater rigidity or hardness than the body or core 11 of the ornament 10 so that the end of the same, which is preferably pointed, will penetrate the core material. The hanger 15 is preferably injection molded from a plastic such as polystyrene, cellulose acetate, or the like, so as to provide a spear-like portion 16 and an eye formation 17 or hook formation 17' (FIG. 6a) for attaching the connector to a support. The spear-like portion comprises a relatively short slender stem section 18 terminating at the one end at an anchor forming enlargement 20 and at the other end at the eye formation 17. The enlargement 20 is in the form of a cone with the apex 21 forming a pointed terminus for the hanger stem section 18 to facilitate insertion thereof into the body of the ornament and the base of the cone being concentric with the axis of the stem section 18 so as to provide a relatively narrow shoulder 22 facing in the direction of the eye 17 and extending in a plane generally transverse relative to the axis of the stern section 18. While the enlargement 20 is preferably cone-shaped as shown, it may have other specific forms which will provide a peripheral shoulder or head having at least a portion thereof facing in the general direction of the eye 17 at the other end of the stem section 18. The hanger may, of course, be formed of other material having suflicient rigidity or hardness.

The hanger 15 is adapted to be assembled for use with the ornament 10 by forcing the spear-like portion 16 into the body or core material 11 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 a sufiicient distance to embed the enlarged end portion 20 in the core material 11 at an appreciable distance from the surface with the material closing around the enlarge- 4 ment 20 sufliciently to offer substantial resistance to withdrawal thereof.

The hanger 15 may be employed with an ornament which has been provided with a preformed or prebored hole, as illustrated at 23 in FIG. 5. The enlarged end portion 20 of the hanger 15 will need to be made so that it has a transverse section larger than that of the hole 23 by an amount sutficient to insure that the core material will close around the end portion 20 and engage the shoulder 22, when the stem of the hanger is inserted in the hole as shown in FIG. 5, and the end portion 20 will be gripped by the core material sufficiently to prevent accidental withdrawal thereof.

The hanger 15 may also be employed with an ornament which is hollow, for example, an injection molded plastic sphere 25 as shown in FIG. 6 and [which is wrapped with satin strand material, or the like, the latter forming a covering shell 26 over the hollow core of substantial thickness. In the course of wrapping, a hole 27 may be formed in the wrapping which aligns with a spindle receiving hole 28 in the hollow core. The hole 27 is smaller than the hole 28 and the satin strand material 26 will permit the cone-shaped end 20 of the hanger 15 to enter the hollow core through the hole 28 which is larger than the maximum cross section of the cone 20 and thereafter close about the stem 16 as shown. The strand material is tightly wrapped and when the hanger 15 is inserted, the shoulder 22 provided by the enlarged end 20 will engage the inside of the cover material 26 adjacent the hole 27 and prevent separation of the hanger 15 except by the exercise of considerable pulling force on the hanger. When a hole is not formed in the wrapping, the enlarged end 20 may be forced between the strands of the wrapping material which will thereafter close about the stem.

The hanger or connector 15 is illustrated as especially designed for use with Christmas tree ornaments of the type illustrated but it is not restricted to such use since it may be employed as a means for connecting one article to another, or for hanging or attaching to a support or the like, any article having a core or body of a material exhibiting the physical characteristics described or a hollow body with a wrapping of material having the characteristics described.

In attaching the hangers 15 to any of the ornaments or any similar article, a small amount of adhesive may be applied to the stem section 18 or the enlargement 20 if desired, to obtain a more permanent anchoring of the hanger in the article. The enlarged end 20 on the stem section 18 prevents smearing of the adhesive when the spear-like portion 16 is forced into the body of the article.

A modified form of the hanger is illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. The modified hanger 35 has a stem 36 connecting an eye formation 37 and an end enlargement 40 having a pointed terminus 41 and a shoulder 42 facing in the direction of the eye 37. A disc-like enlargement 43 is formed at the base of the eye 37 having a diameter greater than the cross sectional diameter of the stem 36 and extending in a plane transverse of the longitudinal axis of the stem '36 and spaced from the enlargement 40' so as to provide a shoulder 44- facing in the direction of the shoulder 42. This form of the hanger provides greater stability for the connection when the hanger is attached to an ornament 12 in the same manner as described with respect to the hanger 15 and as illustrated in FIG. 8, the shoulder 44 serving to abut the outer surface of the ornament and limit the extent to which the stem 36 penetrates the body of the ornament. The enlargement 43 also serves to insure uniform attachment of the hanger 36, particularly when applied by machine operations and in addition facilitates machine feeding of the hangers by providing an exterior guide surface which permits better guiding and feed control of the hangers.

The means for attaching the hanger to a tree branch or other support may take a form other than an eye, such as the hook 17 which is illustrated on the hanger shown in FIG. 6a, or any equivalent eye-like or hook-like formation permitting the hanger to form a connecting means for suspending the ornament from the support.

I claim:

1. An ornament formed with a body portion of expanded cellular plastic and a hanger therefor which is formed of a relatively hard, substantially rigid plastic material and which has a spear-like stern portion engaged in said ornament body portion, said ornament body portion being characterized by an expanded, foamed, plastic formed into a solidified multi-cellular mass, which is firm and hard to the touch, which is easily penetrated by the spear-like portion of said hanger, and which has a sufiicient degree of elasticity to close about the portion of the hanger penetrating the same, said hanger having a support engaging formation at the outer end of the spear-like portion and the spear-like portion comprising an elongate stem section of small cross section and an inverted coneshaped anchor section at the \body penetrating end thereof with the apex of the cone forming the terminus of the spear-like portion and the base of the cone being of a larger cross section than the stern section so as to provide a relatively narrow, peripheral abutment shoulder extending in a plane generally transverse of the axis of the stem section and facing toward the support engaging formation, said shoulder being space from said support engaging formation and said cone section being embedded in said body portion so that said shoulder forming base of the cone is in abutting engagement with expanded body material which has closed over the same to a degree sulficient to prevent accidental separation of the ornament and hanger.

2. An ornament as set forth in claim 1, and said stem section having an enlargement with a cross sectional dimension greater than the cross sectional dimension of said stern section which is spaced axially from said anchor forming section and which provides an abutment shoulder facing in the direction of said anchor forming section which shoulder is adapted to engage the exterior of the body portion of said ornament and limit the penetration of said spear-like portion.

3. An ornament as set forth in claim 1 and said support engaging formation on said hanger being in the form of an eye which is adapted to receive a support forming member.

4. An ornament as set forth in claim 1 and said support engaging formation on said hanger being in the form of a hook which is adapted to engage a support forming member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,896,352 7/1959 Strauss 161-32 XR 3,132,988 5/1964 Fowler 161-16 2,792,656 5/ 1957 Glagovsky 161-32 XR 3,220,913 11/ 1965 Thomas 161-16 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,158,713 1/1958 France.

PHILIP DIER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

